AUGUST 2010
-Charismatic Conference
The Diocese of Peoria hosted their 24th Annual
Charismatic Renewal Conference, and a group of ISU students and our lovely Religious Sisters were right then to experience it. We learned about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we praised our Lord during the mass, and had many opportunities to join in singing praise & worship songs to our King. Several students experienced being prayed over for the first time, and some were even brave enough to participate in the healing mass. Although the event's special guest, Anne the Lay Apostle, was not able to be present due to illness, our speakers and Bishop Jenky were there to lead us in prayer and worship. Us ISU students even got a special, private talk by one of the event speakers after the Conference was done on the aspects of Spiritual Warfare. He was also able to clear up any and all questions we had concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the overall Catholic Charismatic Movement. Everyone left feeling even more on fire with the Holy Spirit and with love for Jesus and His Church.-Festival ISU
Every new school year, dozens of new freshman arrive on campus and are eager to get involved with some of the numerous RSOs (Registered Student Organizations) we have at ISU. This is why ISU created what is known as Festival ISU. Festival ISU is an event hosted on the quad, where all of the RSOs on campus set up tables and booths and hand out freebies and info to the students about their respective groups. We here at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Newman Center always make sure that we are right there providing information to these students on how to get involved here with the church and the events we host throughout the year. I was specifically asked to be in charge of the Evangelization effort for isuCATHOLIC this semester. This meant coordinating and gathering all of the materials we would give away, I created a PowerPoint slideshow showcasing past events at Newman, and recruited students to help run the tables. It was a daunting and time-consuming task, but it was well worth it. We reached out to many students and many are now full time regulars at the Newman Center!
-Newman Camping Trip
What's a better way to get to know students, then to
spend a 
weekend together in the great outdoors? This is exactly what happened during our Newman Camping trip this semester. We spent a weekend together in the great outdoors. We played frisbee, cooked hotdogs, some students jumped into the freezing cold water at sunset, we went canoeing, played psychiatrist around a bonfire, and ended the weekend with a beautiful outdoor Mass on Sunday morning celebrated by Fr. Ryan Bredemeyer. All of the students loved getting away from the hassles of homework and school, and had a great time with fellow believers, friends, and community.SEPTEMBER 2010
-Bible Study Coordinator
One of the methods FOCUS utilizes when reaching out to students in challenging them to grow in their faith is to start bible studies. Though these studies are generally first led by the missionaries themselves, those students in Discipleship then take charge and lead their own study for other other students. When the FOCUS program was present at ISU we had a good number of studies (it was through a FOCUS bible study at ISU, that I met Paul, who would lead me back to Christ). When the FOCUS program left ISU, this left many students in want and need of small group bonding and fellowship. After talks with the Sisters at the Newman Center, they agreed to let the students begin these studies back up again. In order to keep track of these studies and make sure the material was true to Church teaching, she appointed me as Bible Study Coordinator. This entailed becoming aware of all the studies that had begun and ordering the study guides for the students and leaders. We grew to around 5 different studies which met throughout the semester covering topics ranging from Salvation History, to Christ-like Leadership for Men, to Scriptural Apologetics. This knowledge of Scripture and fellowship with fellow believers in so crucial for growing in one's faith, and it was a great blessing to see these studies begin again.
OCTOBER 2010
-Koinonia 41 Retreat
(First some backround info) Every semester campuses across the country host a retreat known as Koinonia. It was on my Koinonia retreat in Oct 2009 where I gave a total surrender to Jesus and told him I was sick and tired of living a life solely focus on me and my own pleasures. He answered my prayer in a very special (and personal) way, that I couldn't ignore it. The God of the entire Universe cared enough to call me out and tell me He wanted me for himself. I began giving up the lifestyle of partying (while I was on the retreat, I was still recovering from a leg injury incurred during a drunk-driving accident prior). I gave myself entirely to him. I was filled with an insatiable desire to live entirely for Him and His Kingdom and to know everything I could about Him. I began going to daily Mass, reading Scripture, my Cathechism, the lives of the Saints, and whatever else I could get my hands on. This led to me going on FOCUS conference in Orlando, FL in December 2009, where I decided that God was leading me to become a fulltime FOCUS Missionary. I was then asked to be on staff for the retreat the following Spring, and then to co-lead the retreat the following Fall for Koinonia 41.
(back to the Fall 2010) As mentioned previously I was asked to co-lead this retreat with a wonderful daughter of God named Katie Seidenberg. Katie had been an integral part of me growing in my prayer-life and we had become regular prayer partners and friends. When I learned last April that I would be leading this retreat with Katie, I was enthralled! We quickly began praying very intensely for the success of the retreat and that the Holy Spirit would move those whom God desired to go on this retreat. We made several pilgrimages prior to the retreat to offer up prayers in preparation for the retreatants and team (including one stop at the Shrine of St. Joseph--our patron saint for NK41!) As the weekend approached we were both very nervous, but we knew that God would lead us to what we were supposed to do.
On the retreat we had roughly 30 students who attended (not including the students on staff). We heard talks about different tenets of the faith such as Scripture & Prayer, Christian Living, and Metanoia, we had Confession time, we had Adoration time with the Blessed Sacrament, and we had times of fellowship and games outside. Though the weekend seemed to fly by so fast, so much grace came by way of the retreat! I miss it so dearly, and wish I could go back to that wonderful weekend.
-Newman Day/ 5K Run/ Chili Cook
As a fundraiser for World Youth Day 2011, and in preparation for the Dedication of our new Newman Center and Chapel, we held a Newman Day. This consisted of a 5K run in the morning, and then a Chili Cookoff in the afternoon after the race was finished. Since I am not really the running type, I opted out of the 5K in favor of the Cookoff. I signed up as cooking "Philly Chili" not because it sounds delectable having a Phili Cheesesteak inspired Chili, but rather, I thought the name was pretty epic. Of course, I've never really made Chili before (let alone my own), have had unpleasant experiences with the Crockpot in the past, and I waited until the day off the Cookoff to find out any information at all. I'll let you in on a little secret...cheese....it's all about the cheese. All I did to make my Philly Chili was take cans of Walmart Chili, dump it into a Crock Pot, add cut up cubes of steak, then top it with a ton of cheese. Most people commented that it was the cheese that really pulled the whole thing together (on the other hand, there were no complaints about the wonderful steak cubes either). My creation came in 5th place out of 10 or so chili's and I was happy. For something I created literally an hour before I placed it into the competition, I was pleasantly surprised. Besides the Run and Chili, we also had balloons, face painting, and the Ignite band played a ton of great live music. We even had some visitors come by who would not soon after be our newest retreatants on our Koinonia Retreat I led with Katie. Good times, good fun, and good memories.
NOVEMBER 2010
-Dedication Mass
The moment we had all been so eagerly awaiting. For the past several years we at the St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Newman Center had been attending Mass and hosting events in our old Center. To sum it up nicely it was a corrugated shed with wood paneling on the inside. But to the great interest of all involved, the Center underwent construction on what would become a new chapel and additions that would become our new center. This construction seemed to last forever. It was a terribly long wait, and most people didn't even think we were open, much less a church with all of the fenced off areas and tarp coverings over the front edifice and front yard of the building. However in November 2010, we were open for the public, and we got our first peak of the new chapel and center. They were BREATHTAKING. beautiful, great acoustics, and even a fireplace in the Center. On the day of the dedication we had many many priests attend (including Fr. Antonio Dittmer, and Fr. Victor Mosele) as well as Bishop Jenky of the Peoria Diocese, and many relics as well (including but not limited to: St. Therese, St. Martin de Porres, St. Peter, and a relic of the True Cross). Everyone was dressed in their finest attire while Mass occured and as Bishop Jenky basically Baptized and Confirmed the Chapel. Due to overflow, hundreds of people watched the Mass on closed-circuit video in the old Center in folding chairs. You can see a video recap from the News about the mass here: Dedication Video. Our Center was even renamed. Henceforth from that day on, our chapel would be known as the: St. Robert Bellarmine Chapel, and our center as the: John Paul II Catholic Newman Center. Just seeing students walking down the sidewalks from the dorms towards the church was a delight in my eyes. No longer was attending Mass a backdoor venture, but rather, a light in the darkness. I know the Dedication will live on in the memories of all who attended.
In Addition:
In addition to all of the previously mentioned events, our Fall semester at ISU consisted of:
-Divine Mercy groups praying every day at 3p
-Rosary groups praying every day before Mass
-Mass followed by Adoration and Praise & Worship every Wednesday at 7:30
-Treasures of the Faith/Bible Study every Thursday at 6p
-Daily Mass & Confession
-Confession on the Quad every Thursday at 12 noon.
-All day Adoration from 11a-11p on Fridays
-Much more...
